Steve Case to talk Aol, startups and ‘the rise of the rest’ at Disrupt NY

Aol founder and noted venture capitalist Steve Case is coming to Disrupt NY this May, and there’s plenty to talk about. Since leaving Aol in 2005, Case has invested in startups in smaller markets, and the last few years he’s traveled the country, exploring and highlighting budding startup scenes outside of Silicon Valley. There are challenges and barriers to overcome in these markets.

As the CEO and chairman of his investment firm Revolution, Case has a unique perspective to advise Disrupt attendees on how to recruit talent, gain traction and raise funds outside of the Valley or New York.

And, of course, there’s Oath: and Yahoo. The company he founded, Aol, is dropping the name he came up with and is merging with one of Aol’s biggest rivals, Yahoo (Aol is TechCrunch’s parent company).

As he explains in his book, The Third Wave, America Online was born after Apple pulled out of a $5 million contract Case led in 1987. In 1991, at the age of 32, he was promoted to CEO, but while preparing to take the company public, the board demoted him to executive vice president out of fear his young age would hurt the IPO. As America Online’s growth exploded, Case led the company to purchase Time Warner for $164 billion in 2000, which is still the largest transaction of its kind.

Just prior to stepping down from Aol’s board in 2005, Case founded Revolution with Donn Davis and Tige Savage. The firm is based in Washington, DC and invests in early-stage companies and mostly focuses outside of the Valley.

We’re excited to have Steve Case sit down for a fireside chat. He has been witness to radical changes in technology and has amazing stories.

Disrupt NY takes place May 15-17. General admission tickets and exhibition packages are still available for purchase. The lineup for this event is amazing, and we hope to see you there.

Sponsors make TechCrunch events possible. If you’re interested in learning more about sponsorships with TechCrunch, shoot an email to sponsors@beta.techcrunch.com.